The Eerie Village

The straight-line distance across the strait between the two landmasses wasn't particularly far, as they were within visual range of each other.

Thus, it didn't take long for Lan Qingyou to cross the strait and reach the continent on the other side.

Compared to the location of Alisa's Alchemy Workshop, this place seemed much more inviting.

At the very least, green grass was visible in the distance beyond the beach.

Judging by the surroundings, she had arrived in a grassland region.

While it was certainly better than the desert, Lan Qingyou would quickly grow tired of scenery that remained the same for miles.

After some thought, she decided to continue flying along the coastline.

At least there was a sea breeze to enjoy here.

Before long, she spotted a river mouth approximately twenty meters wide.

“Following this upstream should lead to a town or something similar.”

After all, whether for camping or building a city, being near a river was an extremely convenient and conventional choice.

Without a second thought, Lan Qingyou flew toward the upper reaches.

It wasn't that she specifically wanted to find a town to rest in; she simply wanted to give herself a destination.

In any case, she would have to set up camp by nightfall anyway.

Compared to the beach, camping on a riverbank was much more convenient, not to mention significantly less dangerous.

When she had flown over the sea earlier, she had seen schools of level 50 or higher aquatic monsters beneath the surface.

In the past, she would have been delighted to farm them for experience.

But after ten months of high-intensity combat, she wanted to rest and enjoy the sense of security that came with her vastly increased strength.

She had fought for ten months straight; what was wrong with enjoying herself a little?

There was no other reason—she just wanted to cut loose!

Sure enough, after about an hour of flying, Lan Qingyou spotted a village from the air.

The village looked large enough to house several thousand people, and Lan Qingyou noticed quite a few shelters among the buildings.

There was a sense of communal beauty unique to humans in the layout.

However, Lan Qingyou felt that something was very wrong.

Mainly, the village was far too quiet.

Seeing so many shelters clustered together didn't look like something the world consciousness would arrange; it looked more like the residential areas of Typhon City, where people had migrated from elsewhere.

Though she didn't know what method they had used to gather here, the eerie silence was very real.

Strange and unsettling.

These feelings piqued Lan Qingyou’s curiosity, so she immediately flew down to see exactly what was happening in this place.

Flying through the town at her lowest speed, Lan Qingyou frowned slightly.

Just as she had seen from the air, the place was indeed deserted, and there was no one in the shelters either.

No... it would be more accurate to say that the doors of these shelters were all eerily wide open.

It was as if everyone living here had opened their doors at the exact same moment.

Open doors meant that the residents had either left without closing them or that some emergency had occurred that left them without even the time to shut the door.

However, that wasn't the most curious thing to Lan Qingyou.

What bothered her most were the signs of battle on the main road.

Sword marks were etched into the stone slabs, scorched traces of war remained on the ruins, and even the vines on the nearby trees were dripping with crimson blood.

It felt like a war of extermination, but the strange thing was that while the battle seemed to have been intense, there were very few bloodstains and no bodies left behind.

It wasn't as if the enemy had suddenly grown a conscience and helped bury the dead.

Speaking of which, Diana's report had mentioned that those extremists enjoyed eating the flesh and blood of evolved beings as a condition for their own evolution.

Could the ones who ransacked this place be those dangerous types?

Uncertain, Lan Qingyou floated slowly down the street, hoping to find some solid clues.

Suddenly, a shrill howl echoed from the distance at a certain fork in the road.

“It’s this way...”

Looking at a path extending out of the village, Lan Qingyou decided to investigate.

She had searched for so long and finally encountered a living soul; if she didn't rush over, the time she had wasted would be for nothing.

However, just as Lan Qingyou was about to leave the village, a person covered in blood suddenly scrambled out of the bushes in a panic.

The person burst out and came face-to-face with Lan Qingyou as she was exiting the village.

In that single moment of meeting, after a brief exchange of looks, the person immediately did something that left Lan Qingyou very confused.

The next second, the terrified expression on the person's face shifted into three parts anger, three parts hatred, and four parts grim determination.

Then, with a leap, they pounced toward Lan Qingyou with bared teeth and flailing limbs.

Good grief!

She could understand the anger and determination, but what was with the hatred?

She had literally just arrived at this godforsaken place.

Feeling somewhat annoyed, Lan Qingyou didn't hold back and cast an A-grade Levitation spell at him.

The man instantly accelerated toward Lan Qingyou in a posture he hadn't expected.

Lan Qingyou wasn't about to reach out to someone covered in blood who wanted to attack her. That would only get her hands dirty.

Besides, anyone who attacked her had to die, regardless of their reasons.

With a flick of her hand, a Pink Infantry golem appeared before her.

Under Lan Qingyou’s control, the Pink Infantry reached out and grabbed the man by the collar, snapped his neck in an instant, and then tossed him back into the bushes from which he had come.

The Pink Infantry then smoothly vanished as Lan Qingyou retracted the card.

Turning around, Lan Qingyou began to fly back into the village.

It was a simple matter, hardly worth mentioning for her.

She had intended to find a survivor to ask what had happened here, but then this occurred. To be honest, Lan Qingyou had already lost interest in the mystery.

Now, rather than worrying about what happened here, it was better to take advantage of the early hour and set up camp by the river.

It was almost noon; catching a couple of wild river fish and having Gu Xiaobei make her some grilled fish sounded like a wonderful idea.

As for the payment, she would just use the extra wild fish.

After all, between Lan Qingyou and Gu Xiaobei, they never talked about money.

It was easier to communicate that way.

Talking about money wouldn't just hurt their feelings; it would bring up the issue of whether Gu Xiaobei could even afford to pay her back.

However, just as Lan Qingyou began to daydream about her grilled fish lunch, a figure suddenly burst out from the previous bushes.

This person held a sharp weapon, leaping toward Lan Qingyou with a swing prepared.

From the momentum, it was clear they were aiming for an instant kill.

Because the person had jumped higher than the altitude she was hovering at, Lan Qingyou couldn't see their face even when she looked up.

But there was one thing Lan Qingyou was absolutely certain of.

That person definitely had some connection to her...